


Riddle Me This

by CharmingEyes



Category: Gotham (TV)
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Jealousy, Multichapter, Random Updates, Reader-Insert, Slow Burn, Work In Progress, not sure where I'm going with this yet, slow start
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-01-10
Updated: 2017-12-05
Packaged: 2018-05-12 23:10:40
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 12,011
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5684776
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CharmingEyes/pseuds/CharmingEyes
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Being the new intern at the GCPD has its perks. Sure you're stuck doing odd jobs around the precinct, but getting to know the enigmatic forensic scientist upstairs might just be worth it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Intern

**Author's Note:**

> I loved Ed from the beginning and thought he wasn't appreciated enough. Definitely in need of more Nygma/Reader fics for my own personal enjoyment lol. Here's my contribution ;)

The shadow of the GCPD precinct loomed over you as you approached the old building. You were starting your first day as an intern and you were nervous. You had lived in Gotham your whole life and were fully aware of the corruption that plagued the city. Now you were going to be able to witness it all firsthand; it was actually almost exciting in a way. Staring up at the sign you steeled your nerves and marched up the remaining steps, unsure of what to expect. Pushing open the door and walking into the lobby, you observed the hustle and bustle of the officers and the shrill cries of telephones ringing off the hook. Looking around, you tried to find someone who wasn’t busy and might be willing to help you out. You hadn’t even been able to approach anyone before you heard a loud thud behind you. Looking back towards the main doors, you were almost bowled over by three officers trying to restrain a perp. You shrunk against a pillar and scanned the room further. 

You weren’t sure what you were expecting when you signed up for this, and you were still unsure what you were to do there. With the help of your parents, you had gotten through post-secondary education, however, times were tough and even with a degree it was difficult to find yourself a job with your limited experience. Luckily, the captain of the precinct was a family friend. When she heard about your employment struggles, she had offered you the gig temporarily until you were able to find something on your own. 

Sighing, you started to feel self-conscious and wondered if you looked like an idiot hiding behind the pillar. Suddenly, you felt a presence behind you and whipped your head around. You found your nose inches away from a well-organized pocket protector with an ID badge neatly clipped to it. Craning your neck back, you jumped when you saw a tall brunette smiling down at you. “Hello there!”

“Uhh, hi?” you replied. He stayed silent as he observed you over his glasses. You shifted your eyes from side to side and avoided eye contact, feeling unnerved by his stare. “Um—”

“You look lost,” he stated bluntly. “Is there something I can help you with?” he maintained his smile and cheery demeanor.

“Actually, yes. Um, you see, I’m a new intern here and I actually don’t know where I’m supposed to go…” you trailed off. You realized then that there was a front desk with secretaries whose job was to help steer people like you in the direction they needed to go. You mentally slapped yourself, hoping this stranger didn’t think you were stupid for wasting their time. In your defense, you had never been to the precinct before. This was all new to you.

“Hmm, quite the predicament. Follow me,” he said as he turned and started walking away. You stared after him in surprise. Realizing that he didn’t look to be stopping anytime soon, you stumbled after him, picking up the pace to match his much longer strides. 

“I-I’m sorry, I didn’t quite catch your name!” you huffed as you finally caught up to the tall man. “Eep!” he came to a complete halt, causing you to crash into his back. He turned to you, totally unfazed, and held out his hand.

“Ed,” he smiled. You stared at his extended hand for a second before looking back up at him. “Nygma,” he smiled wider, also glancing at his hand and then back to you. Taking the hint, you reached your hand out and he grabbed it, shaking it up and down enthusiastically. “And your name is…?”

“I’m Y/N,” you said with a small smile, amused with his enthusiasm. 

“Very nice to meet you Miss Y/N. Now, where were we? Ah! Right this way!” he resumed his path down the center of the room, expertly dodging the police officers rushing by as you hurried to keep up with him once again. “Don’t worry, you’ll get used to all of this,” he gestured around the room.

“Yeah right, we’ll see about that,” you muttered under your breath as you followed him up the steps to the second floor. You looked back down to the main floor and took in the chaos. You sighed and turned back to Ed, who had stopped in front of what appeared to be the captain’s office. 

“Here we are Miss Y/N,” he said, presenting the door to you. “This is Captain Essen’s office. I’m sure she’ll be able to help you further.”

“Thank you Mr. Nygma,” you beamed up at him, truly thankful that he took the time to help you and that you were finally one step closer to officially starting your day. 

“My pleasure Miss Y/N. I hope to see you later,” he seemed taken aback by your genuine gratitude for a moment before composing himself to give you a small wave before leaving to presumably do some work of his own. 

You stared after his retreating form for a second before snapping yourself out of it. “What an odd man,” you mumbled, smiling to yourself. Shaking your head, you turned towards the door and knocked. You heard a faint “come in!” from the other side, opened the door and walked in. 

Sarah Essen sat behind her desk going through a massive pile of paperwork. You smiled seeing the familiar aunt-figure from your childhood. “Auntie Sarah!” you exclaimed.

Essen looked up and then returned your smile before coming around the desk to give you a big hug. “Oh Y/N! It’s been so long, I can’t believe you’re all grown up now,” she cooed, ruffling your hair affectionately.

“Hey, hey! Do you know how long it took me to get my hair to look like that?” you laughed, swatting her hand away. The both of you briefly talked about what’s been going on in your lives before you settled down in the chair across from her. “I really appreciate you doing this for my auntie. You didn’t have to,” you sincerely thanked her.

“Come on now, it’s no big deal. And don’t call me that,” she playfully snapped. “Makin’ me feel old.” You rolled your eyes and the both of you had a laugh. “Now let’s figure out what you’re going to be doing while you’re here. For now, I’m going to have you do odd jobs around the precinct. You’ll also be working the front desk as one of the secretaries. Lord knows it’s time for Margie to retire,” she muttered the last part under her breath.

“Wait, wait. What do you mean by odd jobs?” you asked, confused. 

“When you’re not busy, I want you to go around the precinct and see if anyone needs any help. It’s a great way to make friends and network for the future,” she smiled as you groaned.

“I’m fine with the secretary work, but you know I’m not great with people!” you protested.

“Exactly! This is the perfect time to improve those communication skills. You’re going to need them,” she looked at you sharply. “And no buts,” she finalized, seeing as you were about to protest once more. “Besides, this is just temporary for now until we can find you something that will actually utilize your skills. What did you say you majored in again?”

“Forensics,” you grumbled.


	2. A Late Lunch

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You're just full of surprises.

You clicked your pen absentmindedly as you stared at the wall of post-it notes in front of you with dead eyes. It had been about a week since you started your new job and _everyone_ at the precinct jumped at the chance to dump their work on the new intern. The bastards. That meant tons of paperwork, coffee runs, and even personal errands annoyingly enough. Long story short, the work piled up no matter how much progress you thought you made. There was absolutely _no_ way you could keep track of what every person needed to be done, hence the post-it wall. The sad thing was, no one had even bothered to learn your name; at least no one but Ed. Coincidentally, he was just about the only one who hadn’t taken advantage of the post-it wall.

Your mind wandered to the man you met on your first day. You had caught glimpses of him from time to time, but nothing more; you were kept so busy throughout the day that you hadn’t even thought about it. However… you would feel eyes on you and spot the glint from a pair of glasses every so often, but you were convinced it was just your imagination. To be honest you were disappointed. You had hoped to find a friend in the strange man but you just didn’t have the time to get to know anyone, let alone seek him out. You didn’t even know what he did around the precinct but you would be damned if you gave into your curiosity and asked Essen; she would hound you for a reason, then tease you about it and never let it go. You didn’t need that right now,

Snapping out of it, you refocused on the memos in front of you. Plucking one from the wall you read out the request and mentally attempted to work it into your schedule. That is, until your stomach decided to make a _very_ audible growl. Clutching at your belly, you looked around to see if anyone else heard it. Glancing between the memo and the wall, you bit your lip as you debated if you had the time to grab a quick lunch. Screw it. You decided that since you hadn’t had a proper break since you started, you deserved to treat yourself. Besides, it was a basic human right. You announced to the secretaries that you would be taking an hour for lunch. They nodded to you sympathetically before turning back to the screens in front of them. _At least they understood,_ you thought as you grabbed your purse and your coat.

You started walking towards the exit when you felt someone tap you on the shoulder. Turning your head, you were surprised to be met with the spectacled gaze of the man you had just been thinking about.

“Hello Miss Y/N,” Edward said in his chipper tone. “I see you’re making time for lunch today.”

“Oh hello Mr. Nygma, I didn’t see you there,” you yelped in surprise as you turned around to face him. “Uh, yes, I decided I needed a little break today before my head explodes. Everyone’s got me so busy around the precinct that I haven’t had time for lunch. Well, not a good lunch at least,” you laughed, rubbing the back of your neck. You saw him tilt his head and glance at the growing wall of memos. “I hope you don’t think I’m slacking” you sighed.

“Not at all Miss Y/N! I would hardly call this slacking, on the contrary actually. I think you deserve a break with all the work you’ve done,” he gave you a smile. Ed had in fact been watching you run around the precinct trying to get all your work done throughout the week. He had wanted to talk to you after your first meeting but seeing how busy you were, decided against it. He didn’t want to approach you and interrupt your schedule; it seemed you had enough on your plate as it was. But something about you just seemed to draw him in, and he couldn’t quite figure it out.

“O-oh, thank you. I didn’t think anyone actually noticed.”

“Yes, hard work does seem to go unnoticed around here. It would appear to be a common theme, actually,” he muttered with a slight frown. It was the first time you had seen the smile slip from his face.

“You too, eh?” you nudged him with your elbow and he looked down at you in slight surprise at such a familiar gesture.  You shrugged and patted his arm. “Nothing we can do to change people’s shitty attitudes right? What do you do around here anyways?”

Ed stepped back a step upon hearing this, clearly not expecting you to say that. He pushed his glasses back up the bridge of his nose and turned his head back to you. “I’m actually in foren—“

“Y/N! Has anyone seen Y/N?” you peeked around Ed and saw an officer searching the area around your desk, a rather large stack of paperwork in his arms. You groaned in dismay before an idea popped into mind.

“Come on!” you whispered as you grabbed Ed’s arm and practically dragged the tall man out the door.

“M-M-M-Miss Y/N?!” he sputtered, almost losing his balance as you continued to grasp his arm while running down the stone steps of the GCPD. He was absolutely startled by your actions and wasn’t sure how to react.

You stopped running once you got around the corner of the building and laughed breathlessly as you turned to look back at Ed. He was slightly disheveled with a few wavy strands of hair sticking out of his slicked hair style. Seeing the prim and proper man in such a state was a sight to see. “Sorry about that,” you said as your laughter died down. “I just don’t think I can handle another stack of paperwork right now… Besides, it’ll be there when I get back,” you sighed.

You looked back up at Ed to see that he had already smoothed back most of his displaced strands except one piece that was hanging over his forehead. You reached up and smoothed it back for him before you realized what you were doing. As you lowered your hand, you met his widened eyes and only then did it hit you what you had just done. You gasped and snatched your hand back and averted your gaze. “I-I-I’m sorry Mr. Nygma! That was totally inappropriate, I don’t know what I was thinking,” you rambled on and on until you heard him loudly clear his throat.

“It’s quite alright, Miss Y/N. It was probably the rush of adrenaline from our little _‘getaway,_ ’” he emphasized the word with air quotations, “that caused a momentary loss of inhibition. Nothing you should be worrying yourself unnecessarily over.”

You peered up at him through your eyelashes and saw that he had composed himself and was smiling at you once again. You nodded your head and then shuffled your feet, feeling awkward and not knowing what else to say. It was at this moment that you had a sudden realization.

“Oh God, I didn’t pull you away from anything important did I?” you put your hand on your forehead as you leaned against the wall. “What if you get in trouble because of me? I shouldn’t have dragged you out here,” you groaned into your hands.

You heard him chuckle and peeked at him through your fingers. “You really shouldn’t worry so much Miss Y/N, it’s been scientifically proven to make a person age faster. I was just about to go out for lunch myself,” he reassured you.

“Oh, that’s a relief!” you pushed off from the wall and straightened yourself out. You looked around before realizing that you hadn’t thought this through and had no idea where to go next. “Um actually, do you know a good lunch place around here?” you asked him, scratching your head.

“Oh, yes! There’s a deli about a block from here that way,” he pointed down the street. “Their facilities could _definitely_ do with some improvement, but they make the best roast beef sandwiches around. Subjectively speaking, of course,” he nodded.

“Ouu, that sounds just about perfect right now! I’m starving,” you stated as you felt your stomach grumble. “I think we should go. Now. Immediately,” you said as you started marching in the direction he was pointing in.

“I- We?” he stumbled over his words as he watched you walk away.

You turned back towards him and saw that he had not moved an inch. “Oh, um… I mean only if you want to, of course,” you said, now feeling awkward and more than a little embarrassed for letting your stomach take control of the situation. “It’ll only feel right to buy you lunch since I did drag you out here, and you know, you’re the only person I can even consider a friend here,” you trailed off and then started rambling on again. “Not that we’ve known each other very long. I mean this is like, the second time we’ve met and we’ve really only said a handful of words to each other and-and-“

“That won’t be necessary Miss Y/N. Oh, um, I mean about buying my lunch, but I’d be glad to call you a… friend,” he positively beamed at you as he tested the word on his tongue.

You breathed out a sigh of relief and smiled back at him. You nodded in the direction of the deli. “Well, come on then. We don’t have all day,” you joked as you started walking away.

“Okey doke!” he chirped as he rushed to catch up with you. _She is certainly full of surprises,_ he happily hummed to himself.

_"Ohoho, now **this** is going to be fun."_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh dear.


	3. Notes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The four times Ed tried to ask you to lunch, and the one time he succeeded (kind of).

Once again, you were sitting at your desk staring at the wall in front of you. Thankfully, the workload was starting to dwindle down now that everyone was conveniently caught up on their paperwork. You rolled your eyes. You were down to daily tasks that were simple enough that you could almost clear the board during the day. After finally getting your routine down at the GCPD, you were able to start taking little breaks; nothing significant, but you were able to relax more and chat with some of your new coworkers. In particular, Mr. Nygma.

After your “lunch date” a few days prior, you had started seeing him around more. He would come by your desk to say hello or stop to talk with you whenever he was passing by. You didn’t mind; he always had some interesting fact or even a riddle or two to share with you. He kept the days interesting in a good way – he just had this energy about him that made you smile.

Come to think of it, he hadn’t even been by that morning. That was weird. He had taken to bringing you a morning coffee as he came into work, but it was almost lunch time and you hadn’t even seen him come in. Wheeling your chair around, you asked people around you if they had seen him. Apparently no one had, but that didn’t surprise you; no one seemed to pay attention to the man unless it was in an attempt to avoid him.

Sighing, you turned back to your desk and tapped your pencil against your chin.

It was always a bummer when he didn’t come to see you. While you did try to talk to your other coworkers, no one really seemed interested in anything but small talk. You didn’t blame them though. Gotham had a sudden spike in crimes over the past few weeks and everyone was just so burnt out. It could get depressing working here sometimes.

As you worked on putting together a report in the proper order, you noticed a new memo on the wall. However, this one was different than the others. Instead of the standard issued white sticky note with the GCPD water mark, this one was a plain green post-it. Plucking it off the wall, you read the neat handwriting: _If you look at the number on my face, you won’t see thirteen anyplace. What am I?_ Realizing it was a riddle, you scanned the room hoping to find some sign of Ed but you were disappointed when you didn’t see any. He had to be the one who left it. He did love his riddles after all.

* * *

Edward looked down at you from the second floor. The night before, Thomas and Martha Wayne had been killed in a double homicide by an unknown gunman. He had been called in late that night to investigate the scene and had been working overnight going over his notes and putting the evidence together. He hadn’t even realized that it was well into the next day until he heard you asking around for him. Not wanting to forego the daily riddle but being too busy to actually come talk to you, he opted on leaving the note. Technically, he knew he didn’t have to but he had to admit to himself that he rather enjoyed watching your face as you worked through them.

He smiled to himself as you read the note and scanned the room in an attempt to find him. You turned your attention back to the note after figuring out that he was gone. He watched as you read it over and over with a look of confusion on your face before you stuck out your bottom lip in a pout. He crossed his arms, eyes darting to your lips as his teeth came down to bite at his own lip. _Adorable._

In a second he snapped out of his trance and retreated to his office, leaning against the door after it was closed. “No. Miss Y/N is my friend, that’s all. _Please_ leave her alone.” A deep chuckle echoed in his ear and he whipped his head to the side to see… himself.

 _“We’ll see about that,”_ his other self smirked.

* * *

A week and a half passed with everyone working overtime on the Wayne’s murder case. Ed never came to talk to you in that time and you _would_ be worried that he had been avoiding you if it weren’t for the riddles he would post on your wall every day. How he managed to do it without being seen was a mystery to you but you weren’t complaining; they had sadly become the highlight of your day. However, it frustrated you to no end that he would never write the answer to the riddle down. You had to place an embarrassing number of them aside to badger him about when he eventually showed himself to you. Let’s just say you were never that good at riddles.

Ed, on the other hand, _was_ trying to avoid you. It wasn’t because he didn’t like you, far from it. He was trying to protect you while he got his little… _problem_ under control.

Lately his other self had been making himself much more prominent, especially at work, and _especially_ when it came to you. For the time being Ed wanted to put some space between the both of you for fear that _he_ would make an appearance. He continued to leave a daily riddle for you just to keep you from thinking the worst.

Ed wasn’t stupid though. He knew that eventually you would figure out that he was avoiding you and decide it wasn’t worth it to be his friend anymore. He didn’t want that. Thankfully, the Wayne’s double homicide was keeping everyone busy and it would be safe for you to assume that he was wrapped up in his own work. It was a good cover up, but it wouldn’t last forever. They were already calling for the case to be closed, but his problem had not yet abated.

 _“I don’t understand why you won’t just talk to her. Easy solution.”_ Ed glanced up from his work to see _him_ leaning against the wall.

“It would be. If you would just go away,” he snapped, turning back to his work. “Why do you always have to ruin everything?” he dropped his pen and glared at himself.

_“I don’t know what you’re talking about Eddie boy.”_

“Miss Y/N is my friend, my only friend. But you keep filling my head with these,” he looked away to readjust his glasses. “…thoughts,” he finished quietly, looking himself in the eye. “I want you to stop.”

His other self smirked, approaching Ed and stopping directly in front of him. _“Now, now,”_ he drawled. _“I’m not showing you anything you don’t **want** to see. I know because, well, I **am** you.”_ He backed away and chuckled darkly.

“Shut up.”

_“That’s not very nice.”_

Ed glowered at him. “I don’t like Miss Y/N that way. Besides, I think I’m making progress with Ms. Kring—“

 _“Would you **SHUT UP ABOUT KRINGLE.** Don’t you see? She doesn’t like you, she will **never** like you. You see, I know a lost cause when I see it and **that** is why I haven’t helped you with that piece. Besides... we both know shes not innocent, if you know what I mean." _His other self turned away and composed himself before turning to face a wide eyed Ed. _“Now **Y/N** on the other hand,”_ his mouth split into a grin. _“You somehow managed to not scare her off. In fact, she **likes** you and you just might have a chance with her. So why don’t you forget about Ms. Kringle,”_ he sneered at her name. _“And focus your efforts on **not** fucking up this opportunity.”_

Ed flinched at his words, looking down and taking a moment to think about them.

It was true that Kristen Kringle did not spare him the time of day, but he was certain that he could change that. Eventually. He then thought of you, of the kindness and friendship you had shown him. In fact you were the opposite of Ms. Kringle; warm where she was cold, caring where she was indifferent. You _appreciated_ him.

His thoughts lingered on you for a moment longer before he shook his head. No. He wouldn’t give up everything he had with Kristen up to this point. You were his _friend_ , period.

His other self scoffed at him. _“You’re a fool. But I’m sure you’ll come around soon enough.”_ He walked to the door, peering through the window and down to where you sat pondering over the new riddle. _“I’ll make you a deal Eddie boy. Take Y/N out to lunch again, and I’ll leave you alone.”_ Ed’s eyes flickered to him, clearly interested in the thought. _“Not forever, but you’ll be free to talk to Y/N again. I promise I won’t interfere."_ He smirked. _"For now."_

“…Fine,” Ed gritted out through clenched teeth. “But I’m not risking you coming out while I try to ask her, especially in front of all these people.” He sat back, weaving his fingers together and resting his chin on them.

* * *

Ed was watching you behind a pillar on the first floor, waiting to make his move. You left the desk to deliver a report to an officer across the room. Moving quickly he made it to your desk and looked down at the note he was about to stick to your wall. It was the usual green colour so you would know it was from him. In big, bold letters the word **_“lunch?”_** was written across the center.

He was about to place it on the wall when he heard someone call his name. “Hey, Nygma! What are ya doing hanging around Y/N’s desk? You’re not creeping on her are ya?”

Ed jumped and hid the note behind his back. “N-n-no Detective Bullock! I wouldn’t dream of it!”

“Good. Well you should probably stop avoiding her, damn brat’s been bugging the shit out of me asking about you. No idea why,” he scoffed and turned on his heel.

Breathing a sigh of relief, Ed turned back around to your desk to see his other self sitting on top of it. _“He’s sharper than I thought,”_ he smirked _. “Or you’re just making it obvious. Better hurry Eddie.”_ He nodded in your direction and Ed glanced up to see you were making your way back to your desk.

Panicking, he shoved the note in his pocket and fled back up to his office. Once he closed the door, all he heard was that irritating chuckle.

“Shut up.”

* * *

Ed was marching down the stairs, determined to get this note to you. You had left on a coffee run, so that gave him about a fifteen minute window. There was no way he could screw this up.

Reaching the bottom of the stairs, he turned to head towards your desk when he came face to face with Dr. Guerra, incompetent medical examiner extraordinaire. He gave him a tight smile and tried to continue on his way but the doctor was not having it.

“Nygma! How many times do I have to tell you to _stay out of my bodies!_ ”

“You can tell me a million times over but if I _were_ to do what you say, we would never be able to solve a case,” he clipped.

The doctor’s faced reddened in rage. “If I catch you one more time Nygma, so help me I _will_ get you fired!”

Ed didn’t take him serious of course. They wouldn’t fire him; without his help a number of cases would have gone cold. He was a stickler when it came to paying close attention to detail. But that didn’t matter right at that point. What _did_ matter was that you had come back five minutes earlier than expected and you were heading straight for him.

“Hey! Are you even listening?!” Ed turned on his heel and retreated back upstairs, not even bothering to dignify the doctor with a farewell.

He passed his other self on the way to his office, leaning casually against the railing.

“Don’t say _anything_.” He slammed the door shut.

* * *

It was a new day. Ed had decided to give up on his plan the day before, seeing as it was already past lunch by the time you stepped away from your desk again. Today he would not fail.

Making his way down the stairs, he walked briskly to your desk. You were probably getting your breakfast together in the staff room so he had some time. He pressed the note to the wall and smiled at this small triumph before he heard someone’s heels clicking across the floor. He hid behind the nearest pillar but in his haste he had managed to knock his note from the wall and watched as it slipped under the desk.

Ed slapped his hand against his face in frustration. _“Come on Eddie, I’m getting impatient.”_

He just groaned.

* * *

He was getting better at timing. He had made it to your desk once again and slapped the note onto your wall. The number of post-its were down to a handful now; there was no way you would miss it. He carefully backed away from your desk and took his perch at the railing, waiting for you to come back. His other self sidled up next to him to observe.

Someone came up to put a memo on your wall. Ed frowned. After one came another, and another, and another until his note was covered under a new pile of notes. Seething, Ed returned to his office, his other self shaking his head along the way.

* * *

Ed peeked out of the small window on his door. His note was still covered. He would just have to write a new one, and soon because lunch hour was upon him. He went to pull out his pad when he noticed an officer approach you.

He introduced himself, shaking hands with you, and cracked a joke or two. Ed watched you laugh along with him, eyes narrowing into slits. The officer asked you to lunch and you glanced around hesitantly, looking around for Ed in case he finally decided to make an appearance. No such luck. With a small sigh, you turned back towards the officer and smiled, nodding your head. You didn’t want to be rude. You grabbed your purse and your coat and he lead you towards the exit.

Ed stepped back from the door and moved to his desk. He dropped into his seat heavily and leaned his head against his hand. He felt a tugging pressure in his chest and briefly questioned if he was having angina before dismissing it altogether.

_“I **really** hope you didn’t screw this up for us.”_

“…Me too.”

* * *

For the rest of the day, Ed moped around his office. He was sure that you would find the officer much more interesting than him and choose to become friends, possibly even lovers. Where would that leave him?

At the end of the day, he descended the stairs and prepared to leave. A thought came to his mind and he approached your desk once again. He stared at the wall blankly for minute before he started to sift through the memos. Finding his own, he pulled it off the wall and brought it up to eye-level.

“Mr. Nygma?”

He jumped. “M-M-Miss Y/N! I thought you had gone home!” he quickly hid the note behind his back.

“I was about to, but I wanted to wait until I saw you leave. Did you know it’s been about two wee—“

“Two weeks, one day, six hours, and twenty-two minutes since we last physically saw each other? Yes,” he stated bluntly.

_“Idiot.”_

You gave him a look, impressed that he had kept the time to a tee. “Yes, exactly. I’ve missed you.” You smiled up at him.

“Really?” he looked at you in surprise.

“Well, yeah, of course! Everyone else around here is either too boring, or too pervy.” You rolled your eyes.

At hearing the latter part of your statement, Ed came to stand in front of you “If someone is bothering you Miss Y/N, please let me know!” he said, brows knitting together.

Your cheeks warmed up at his proximity and his obvious concern for you. “Don’t worry about it Ed. I can handle myself.” Seeing that that didn’t help to ease his worry, you gave him a reassuring smile. “I _will_ come to you if there is something I can’t handle.”

He sighed in relief. It was then that you noticed he was hiding something behind his back. “What do you have there Eddie?” he flinched at the nickname commonly used by his other self but composed himself, wrapping his fist around the note even tighter.

“Nothing, nothing at all.”

“Oh really? Ed come on, let me see!”

“No.”

“Please?” you begged, sticking your bottom lip out.

He swallowed thickly, eyes on your lips. Without his consent, his arm came out from behind his back and dropped the note into your awaiting hands.

You recognized the green note and smoothed it out so you could read it. Your eyes widened. You looked back at him to see he was staring at his own hand in confusion.

“Ed, when did you put this up?” you asked, afraid of the answer.

“This morning,” he mumbled.

“Oh no, I’m so sorry I didn’t get to it! It must have gotten buried under there.” You felt really guilty. It had been days since you last talked to Ed, and to be honest you would much rather have preferred to go out to lunch with him than Officer Jones.  

“No, no, please don’t blame yourself Miss Y/N. It was my fault, I didn’t realize so many people would be needing you today.”

“Edward.” At hearing his full name, he looked up to meet your eyes. “You didn’t need to do this! You can always come talk to me. I _will_ make time for you.” You smiled at him, and it took his breath away. Figuratively speaking of course.

_“I told you.”_

Ignoring that comment, Ed smiled back at you and nodded his head to show his understanding.

“Alright, so it’s _definitely_ too late to get lunch now. How about we grab some dinner?”

He smiled down at you and nodded again. “Roger dodger!”

You giggled. “You are so lame.” Seeing his face fall, you looped your arm around his and patted his shoulder with your free hand. “In a good way. Now, you _have_ to tell me the answers to some of these riddles. They’ve been driving me insane!”


	4. Guess Who's Back, Back Again

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There's a little bit of good news for everyone... except maybe Eddie.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welp... this chapter was extremely overdue (over a month??), my bad. School's a bitch and I'm just a ball of stress right now lol. Hopefully back to more regular updates soon! This chapter was a lot more difficult to write than the others, and I hope I did it justice. Let me know, I love getting feedback ♥ : )

The rest of the month was hectic to say the least. The heavy crime rates and hours of overtime were starting to take a toll on everyone, including the recently recruited Jim Gordon. You walked over to him and handed him a file that Essen had you pass along and patted him on the back sympathetically. He tore his eyes away from whatever file he was already reading to give you a nod of thanks.

“What’s new?” you inquired curiously.

“Oh you know, guy on the street got his hands on an unidentified drug. Now he’s got superhuman strength and he’s disappeared. Typical Gotham,” he sighed.

“Yeah the freak pulled a damn ATM machine out of a wall and made tail, can you believe that?” His partner, Detective Harvey Bullock, added.

You turned to him and crossed your arms, eyebrows raised in disbelief. “You’re kidding.”

“Nope, whole thing was caught on tape.” Jim waved the evidence in front of you. “We just have to hope that whatever he took isn’t going around yet.”

Across from him, Harvey scoffed. “Fat chance.”

“At the very least we’re going to try to find this guy and stop this thing before too many people get in on this.”

“Good luck with that detectives, I mean it,” you nodded to them as you walked back to your desk.

* * *

It wasn’t even a week later before the GCPD was hauling in the users of “Viper” by what seemed like the truckload. Each and every one of them were angry, desperate for another high, and violent. _Really_ violent. When the cops started bringing the first few in, they had made the mistake of bringing them down a row of desks on their way to the cells which was usually the quickest path. A couple dislocated joints, some broken bones, a concussion, and a few thousand dollars in destroyed technology later, and some much needed rearrangements were made. There was now a new path cutting as straight and clear as possible through the precinct to avoid any other accidents. You were relieved at the new change; the farther away you were from them, the better.

However, having them all locked up not even twenty feet away from where you sat was beginning to be a problem. With all of the ruckus they were causing, it was getting increasingly difficult for you to focus on your work. Putting your pen down, you sighed. When was there going to be an opening in forensics? It would be nice to get out of the bullpen and onto the second floor, which was _much_ quieter.

You flinched when one of the inmates started rattling the bars of the cell, enraged at being locked up. This escalated into a physical fight between many of the other Viper users and the cops trying to get the situation under control. No one moved to go into the cell to break up the fight though, a smart move since the bars themselves could barely keep these people contained. You shrunk back further into your seat. To say that you were on edge was an understatement.

The sound of the phone ringing startled you and caused you to jump in your seat. “Hello, GCPD front desk, how may I help you?” you rattled off the long memorized phrase, a little waver in your tone.

“Y/N, it’s me.”

“Hey auntie Sar—um, I mean Chief. What’s up?” You could never quite get used to that.

“Nothing much,” she sounded tense, which wasn’t all that surprising considering the weight on her shoulders at the moment. “Can you come up to my office?”

“Alright, I’ll be up there in a few.” You placed the receiver back in its place and got up. Stretching your arms above your head, you felt multiple pairs of eyes on you and lowered your arms, remembering where you were. It wasn’t just the inmates’ roaming eyes that had you wary. What concerned you more were the eyes of your fellow coworkers that followed you as you quickly made your way to the stairs. Another reason you wanted out of the bullpen.

You climbed up the steps to the second floor, not noticing the single officer struggling to contain another Viper user, grossly underestimating the strength that the drug had given her. As you passed, the woman lunged and broke through the officer’s grasp. Before she could collide with you, a large pair of hands wrapped around your arm and waist and you felt yourself being pulled out of harm’s way and into someone’s chest.

It took you a few seconds to process what had happened before you looked up into Edward’s spectacled gaze. He was looking down at you with a mix of worry and relief that he had gotten to you before you had gotten hurt.

“Are you alright?” he asked urgently, pulling you closer to him as another officer came to help detain the woman.

“Y-yeah, Ed. I think I’m okay, just a little shaken up. That was a close one, huh?” you turned your head to watch the officers struggling to hold the woman down. You shuddered, shrinking further into Ed’s chest as she elbowed one of them in the jaw, his head snapping to the side at the impact.

You faced Ed and thanked him, giving him a small, shaky smile.

You felt his shoulders sag as he let out a sigh of relief. He hadn’t released you from his grasp yet, one arm holding you around the waist and pressing you firmly against him. Your grip on his lab coat loosened as his gaze met yours once again.

You were already well accustomed to Ed’s diminished sense of personal space, but he had never physically touched you, or attempted to in any way before. You easily could have moved out of his arms, but you found that you didn’t want to. Being enveloped by his broad frame made you feel pleasantly warm, comforted, and safe; things you hadn’t felt since you started working at the GCPD.

“Ed have you seen Y/N?” 

At the sound of the Chief's voice, Edward turned his body abruptly to face her, forgetting you were still in his arms and consequently bringing you along with him. He didn’t even need to answer; she was clearly shocked to see you there. She was specifically shocked to see you in _Edward Nygma’s_ arms of all people. Arching an eyebrow at you with an amused smile, her eyes shifted between the two of you. “Ah, there you are.”

 You snapped out of your daze and sprang away from Ed. You could feel your cheeks burning as you smoothed your clothes down, avoiding eye contact with them.

“Hey there Chief. I was just on my way to see you!” you gave a shaky laugh and grasped her arm, attempting to pull her back towards her office. “Let’s go talk about that thing you called me for.”

“Hang on Y/N. I actually wanted to talk to both you _and_ Ed.” You froze, your mind racing. Nodding, you stopped tugging on her arm and followed her into her office.

* * *

“Alright, Y/N, I know you’ve been waiting for a position more appropriate for your background to open up. I think you’ll be happy to know that a spot has in fact been made available to you. That is, if you would like to take it.” She smiled as you perked up in your seat and vigorously nodded your head, eager to be done with your desk job. “You’ll be working under Ed over here in the forensic lab and out in the field.”

You turned towards each other in surprise. “You’re in forensics?!” you both exclaimed at the same time.

This was news to you, but then again it had never come up in conversation; your brief talks with Ed tended to include a wide range of topics from his usual riddles, to random facts shared between the both of you. His almost encyclopedic knowledge astounded you, actually. However, you tended to avoid talking about anything to do with work, as dealing with crime on a daily basis could take a toll on a person’s psyche and no one needed to be talking about that on their break. You just couldn’t believe that you hadn’t even thought to ask what it was he did around the precinct. You mentally knocked yourself upside the head. Now that you thought about it, you had never even bothered to properly read his name tag which, as you were looking at it now, _clearly_ said that he was on the forensics team.

“Oh my god Ed, I’m so sorry I never even knew. I feel so stupid.” You rested you head in one of your hands and leaned against the arm rest, visibly deflating after suffering so much embarrassment in such a small amount of time.

“No, Y/N, it’s okay. I should have told you myself, there were countless opportunities. Actually, according to sociological trends, one’s education is among the most popular conversational topics between people of all ages and backgrounds. I should’ve asked about yours at some point, so it’s not all your fault.” He gave you a reassuring smile as he rattled off the fact and you couldn’t help but smile back.

Essen gave a snort of laughter from her chair. “What did I just hear? Our lead forensic scientist overlooking the details? That’s very unlike you, Ed.”

He turned to her sheepishly and lifted his shoulders in a stiff shrug. “It never really came up.”

 _“Oh but you_ were _paying close attention to her details, just not the ones you should have been paying attention to.”_ A dark chuckle echoed in Ed’s mind, causing him to stiffen in his seat immediately. _“Don’t try to deny it, Eddie boy. Remember, I **am** you. I see what you see, feel what you feel, and I know what you’re thinking. And my, my, what an imagination you have. Didn’t know you had it in you.”_

“Excuse me for a second, will you?” Ed muttered, barely loud enough for you and Essen to hear. Your brow furrowed, concerned eyes following his lanky frame as he took long strides to the door and slammed it shut behind him. He ran to the bathroom and locked the door, standing in front of the mirror he was horrified at who he saw staring back at him.

 _“Did you miss me Eddie?”_ his darker personality taunted him.

“No, no, no. You said you would leave me alone,” he said, pointing an accusing finger at his reflection.

He scoffed back at him. _“I told you. I **am** you. You can’t get rid of me for long. I said I would leave you alone for a time, and I did. Don’t tell me you’re not happy to see me,”_ he smirked.

Ed growled low in his throat. “Of course not,” he barked. “Why now? Everything was going great without you, our _friendship_ is fine without you.”

 _“Yes, but you want more than that don’t you? I know your eyes have been lingering longer on her when you think no one’s watching, but guess what Eddie? I’m **always** watching,”_ his smirk grew. _“And now she’s going to be in our office, working **very** closely with us. Our dear chief has given us the perfect opportunity to make a move.”_

“Shut up, you don’t know what you’re talking about. She’s my friend, and I won’t let you hurt her.”

 _“Aren’t you getting tired of saying that by now? Of course she’s your friend, but we can have so much more with her, such fun we could have.”_ He clasped his hands together in glee over the thought. His smile dropped as he looked Ed squarely in the eyes. _“You’re in denial now, but you’ll see. You’ll see very soon.”_ He started laughing, his laughter growing louder and louder in Ed’s ears until he couldn’t take it anymore. He slammed his palm onto the smooth glass, covering his face until the laughter started to fade away. When he removed his hand, his reflection was back to normal and he sighed, planting his hands on either side of the sink.

Once he had composed himself, he returned to Essen’s office and reclaimed his seat next to you. He avoided your concerned gaze, only to keep his head clear for the moment. “Sorry about that. I forgot I was running some tests for Detectives Bullock and Gordon.”

“You really are losing it, Ed. Good thing you’ll have Y/N to help you from now on,” Essen teased.

“That’s right, _partner_ ,” you joked, trying to make light of the situation as you normally would despite Ed’s abrupt change in demeanor.

He nodded his acquiescence. “You know, since the Chief said you’ll be working _under_ me, doesn’t that make me your boss?” he tilted his head at you and grinned, a strange glint in his eyes.

You rolled your eyes at his cheekiness, hiding your relief that he seemed to have snapped out of whatever funk he was in. “Whatever Ed.”  You turned to Essen, who was giving you a knowing look and grinning at the exchange. You just glared back at her, daring her to say something. “When do we start?”


	5. Electric in the Air

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You're thrown into your new job right off the bat and meet another member of the team. One who Edward is not very fond of. At all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay. I am so sorry for this really, really, really late update. To be honest, my interest in Gotham has dwindled down at this point. I haven't even watched any of the new season (so no spoilers please?). I wasn't planning on writing anymore for this fic, but I felt bad for leaving so many people on what you all thought was a pretty high note (thank you so much ^^) without any notice... so here's a new chapter! Reading your comments really motivated me to continue Riddle Me This, you guys don't even know. Give yourselves a pat on the back and enjoy!

Your first experience on the job with Edward was later that same day. Jim and Harvey were called into the forensic office to be further briefed on Viper, its effects, and possible origins. As soon as Ed began, you were mesmerized. He was the same person, yet different. He still spoke in that matter-of-fact tone of his, but what really caught you off guard was his confidence. He knew his stuff and he wasn’t afraid to let it show. You knew he was smart but now you could easily see how he had managed to snag the lead forensic position, especially at his relatively young age.

A commotion outside the doors had you all bustling towards it only to witness the same woman who almost assaulted you before melt before your eyes. Disturbing for most people, but from a forensic stand point, fascinating. In fact, Ed voiced your opinion aloud in a daze before jotting down notes about what had just occurred. Essen called for the medical examiner to observe what was left of the body, which was met with a scoff from Ed. She shot him a warning look before returning to her office with a grimace.

As soon as the chief was out of sight, Ed approached the mass on the ground. “Fascinating,” he mumbled under his breath. “Absolutely fascinating.” You moved to join him when you felt, rather than heard, the angry stomps belonging to the one you assumed was the medical examiner.

“NYGMA!” you jumped at the booming voice. “Don’t you _dare_ touch that body.”

Ed hadn’t even flinched, opting to continue jotting down his observations instead of reacting to the man’s outburst. “If you would actually _use_ the gelatinous masses residing in your eye sockets once in a while, you would see that there’s not much of a body to touch,” he said distractedly, not bothering to look up. “And somebody has to do your job before her remains go down the drain,” he deadpanned, finally meeting the doctor’s eyes and gestured to where the liquefied body of the woman was slowly being pulled away by gravity.

Once again you were shocked. You were beginning to see many different sides to Edward Nygma today alone, but the blunt way in which he delivered his sarcastic remarks surprised you. He had never acted this way before in the weeks you had known him, but somewhere inside you were glad that he wasn’t the pushover you initially thought that he was.

You were rudely knocked out of your reverie as the medical examiner made his way past you, unknowingly shoving you to the side. His actions did not go unnoticed by Ed, his sharp gaze moving from the red-faced man to watch as you stumbled before righting yourself. Dr. Guerra took a few more steps towards him, mouth open and ready to berate Ed with insults and threats, when he noticed the other man’s gaze was not trained on him. He paused in his tirade to turn around and see what had distracted him. His eyes landed on you, pulling on the hem of your skirt which had ridden up when he had jostled you. Dr. Guerra smirked.

The medical examiner backpedaled, coming to stop in front of you. With his presence looming over you, your neck craned back to see just who had invaded your personal space. Your body tensed when you recognized that it was not the familiar form of your friend, but this new man whose eyes quickly scanned your body from head to toe. In your flustered state, you hadn’t noticed his gaze linger a little longer than was appropriate at your cleavage. Another observation which Edward did not miss.

“I’m sorry if I bumped into you my dear,” his apology came quick, his words sickly sweet. “I don’t believe that we’ve had the pleasure of being acquainted.” He extended his hand to you, waiting for you to do the same. You hesitantly placed your hand in his, the tone he set making you uncomfortable. With a flourish he tugged on your hand, bringing your knuckles to his lips. “I’m Dr. Guerra, the one and _only_ medical examiner of the GCPD,” he shot a look at Ed who was scowling at the display. He turned back to you with a smile that was so unlike your friend’s. “And you are…?”

You jerked your hand out of the doctors. “Um... I’m Y/N,” you replied, fidgeting with your fingers. Ed’s frown deepened. “I’m with forensics.”

Guerra’s smiled widened. “Ah, so we will be working closely together then,” his eyes shifted back to Ed’s form before coming to rest on you again. “ _Very_ close indeed.” Your skin was positively crawling at that point, but to maintain an air of professionalism you gave him a small smile and nodded.

A loud snap caused you both to turn your attention back to the lead forensic scientist. His face was downcast, arms limp to the sides, a broken pencil clutched in his dominant hand. Something was off about him, you could tell from where you stood. You made to reach out to him but then he looked up, eyes piercing right into your own and causing you to take a step back. Instead of the inquisitive and smiling eyes you were beginning to get used to, all you saw were dark, calculating pools. The look he gave you was almost predatory. You shivered.

In just three long strides he was at your side. He paused and you felt what you could only describe as electricity passing between the two of you, the tension was that palpable. He broke the trance first by moving towards the stairs behind you, seemingly unaffected by whatever you thought you felt. You released the breath you hadn’t even realized you were holding. Guerra’s smile fell from his face to be replaced with a frown as he wondered at the exchange.

“Miss Y/N,” a sharp voice cut through the sudden silence. You followed the voice and looked up to see Edward staring down at you from the top of the stairs. “We have a lot of work to do, as does Dr. Guerra. I think it’s time we leave him to his work.” He spun on his heel, not bothering to check if you moved to follow his indirect order. A beat passed before you scrambled up the stairs to catch up with your superior, the doctor forgotten in favour of the forensic scientist.

* * *

Clutching his head, Ed leaned heavily on the door to the forensic office before slipping inside. In his mind, he kept replaying what had just happened and attempted to make sense of it all. Guerra sidling up to Y/N, his slimy lips connecting with her unmarred hand, the strange feelings that simmered and then boiled within him with the way she was acting in response to the doctor’s advances. He squeezed his eyes shut, but all he could see was that smile. That smile that wasn’t for him. He shook his head to clear his thoughts. What troubled Ed the most was that he couldn’t recall leaving the scene or how he came to be standing in front of his office. His thoughts were interrupted by a timid knock at the door.

“Come in,” he called through gritted teeth. His head was killing him.

“It’s me…” you said, entering the room quietly. You kept your head down, feeling guilty but unsure about what for. Gathering the courage to look him in the eye, your feelings of guilt quickly turned to concern when you saw how he had his head pressed into the wood of the desk. “Ed?”

“Oh, Miss Y/N…” he raised his head and winced at the sudden flash of fluorescent lights. An awkward silence passed between you two, something that you were not accustomed to with your friend. After a moment, Ed broke your gaze and looked away. “I’m sorry about earlier.” Without even knowing the reason, he felt the need to apologize.

Snapping out of it, you came around to his side of the desk and knelt down so you were close to his eye level. “You have nothing to apologize for,” he sighed with relief. “Are you alright?” he was surprised to see the amount of concern she held for him. No one cared about him.

He should have been used to it by now though - you were always full of surprises.

Sitting up straight, he gave her a smile despite the pounding headache radiating through his skull. “I’m fine Miss Y/N. No need to worry about me.” You shot him a skeptical look but accepted the small reassurance of his wellbeing.

“If you say so.” You stood up and moved towards the door which lead to the adjoining lab. “I’m going to work on compiling the notes on Viper.” You paused, fingers gripping the handle and teeth finding your bottom lip. “Ed?” you called, turning around. He gave you a questioning look and you were suddenly incapable of meeting his eyes. “You know you can just call me Y/N… right?” you peeked at him through your lashes and swore you saw that strange glint in his eye from before. You took his silence as a bad sign and reverted to your nervous habit of rambling. “You know since we’re _really_ working together now, it would be really awkward and a little tedious to call each other mister and miss all the time. Speaking of which, I’m pretty sure I haven’t called you Mr. Nygma in a while anyways. Oh God, wait did you want me to call you Mr. Nygma? Do you prefer formalities in the workplace? I mean we _are_ friends but I can—"

“Y/N,” he stopped you. It wasn’t often that he dropped formalities with anyone, even outside of work. “I can call you by your first name if that is what you want.”

You beamed at him and nodded before disappearing through the door. He felt a strange fluttering in his chest. He blinked and was met with his own face smirking back at him. _“I told you so.”_ His smirk split into a sinister grin. _“ **Mr. Nygma~** ”_ His mind unintentionally brought forth a re-imagined version of your voice, calling him as such… but in a much, _much_ different situation.

Ed shook his head to clear his mind, growling low in his throat. “Stop it.”

_“Stop what, Eddie?”_

“You know what I’m talking about,” he sent a pointed look at himself. “You’re putting… _thoughts_ in my head again.”

A dark chuckle resounded through his mind and when he looked up, his doppelganger was gone. _“ **I**_ _did no such thing, Eddie boy.”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So at this point, I feel like I am very rusty with getting back into the characters here. Let me know what you all thought! Updates might be few and far between depending on when inspiration strikes so thank you to all of you who continue to read and support this fic :)
> 
> P.S. I don't know if it was obvious, but dark Ed is starting to take over for Eddie more and more. The pencil snapping was all him ;)


	6. For Better or Worse

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cold breakfast and other disappointments.

The weeks seemed to blur after that day. You had studied forensic science because the body interested you, however you were not so good with living bodies so anything in the health sciences was out of the question. However, being on the forensics team in a city like Gotham proved to be quite a challenge both physically and mentally. You never thought of the subjects in your books as people; they were known to you as example A, or figure 1.2 in your mind. They didn’t have stories, families, or lives. But out there in the streets, it was totally different. Those people were _real_. Emphasis on the past tense.

What really got to you sometimes was when you sat in the lab going over crime scene evidence, attempting to piece together the victim’s last moments. Some were more horrifying or gruesome than others, sometimes both. You knew what you were getting into when you chose this career path, but actually seeing it in reality shook you up a little. You were starting to feel burnt out.

“Suck it up, buttercup.” You were standing at your bathroom mirror, rubbing the sleep out of your eyes. It was your new morning mantra meant to pull yourself together and help maintain your sanity for the day. If you couldn’t make it here, what else would you do? Of course, Gotham was an extreme on the spectrum so you were seeing the worst of the worst. It was grim work, but you signed up for it. Besides, you couldn’t go back to living your boring small town life knowing there was so much more out there.

After gazing at your reflection for a couple minutes, you groaned and scrubbed a palm over your face. The long hours were starting to get to you as well – the dark circles under your eyes were a testimony to that. Today was Friday and you sent a silent prayer up to whoever was listening. Casual Friday meant you didn’t _have_ to make an effort. Pulling your hair into a messy bun, you padded your way to your closet and pulled out anything that was comfortable but still acceptable for work. You finished up with the rest of your morning routine and went out the door with plenty of time to spare. Glancing at your watch you realized you had enough time to grab a decent breakfast on your way to work.

As you approached your favourite bakery/bistro combo, you thought about Ed. He had been really supportive through your transition into your new professional career. It could have been a lot worse without him, for sure. He was an absolutely wonderful teacher and you found you learned so much more on the job with him than you had sitting in a lecture hall three days a week. Unfortunately, you were starting to feel like a burden, only contributing problems to your work relationship with him. He covered for you when you couldn’t stomach a case, and he had had to talk you down from a breakdown you had experienced while working a particularly gruesome crime scene.

You felt guilty for giving him extra troubles to deal with, but you were grateful that he had been so patient and helpful to you. He didn’t scoff at your lack of experience and knowledge, and he really wanted you to learn. You smiled thinking back to how eager he had been to show you how to tell time of death based on some of the smallest details. Grim, but fascinating.  

Your stomach began to growl when the smell of freshly baked pastries wafted through the air. You picked up the pace and entered the small building, smiling at the workers who greeted you. Staring at the display case, you decided to get breakfast for both you and Ed. It was honestly the least you could do.

* * *

Ed didn’t think you were a burden, not at all. In fact, he liked having someone to teach. Sharing his knowledge with someone who was willing to listen and eager to learn kept him occupied and his brain stimulated. There were a couple added bonuses in the deal for him as well, the first being that the busier he was, the less he had to worry about his darker personality manifesting. The other was that his friendship with Y/N was flourishing.

Of course, this brought on other issues as well. Working in such close proximity, Ed eventually had to admit to himself, as well as his smug counterpart, that Y/N was an attractive woman who was kind to him and he may or may not have been starting to develop feelings for her apart from friendship. This realization alarmed him, as he knew how his other self felt about her. While total take overs had only happened a handful of times to his knowledge, he was worried that his other self would be able to take advantage of this connection and overpower him. He couldn’t let her get hurt because of his weakness. She was starting to become too special to him.

Which was why Ed was currently carrying breakfast for two down to the records annex. He had always felt a certain attraction to the bespectacled young woman in charge of the GCPD’s records, but had never acted on it because of his counterpart’s aversion to Kristen Kringle. He never understood it, seeing as Miss Kringle was a lovely lady, but he stayed away to appease him.

That is, until now. Ed was hoping that by showering Miss Kringle with his affection, he would be successful in both distracting his counterpart, and squashing any romantic feelings he may have started to have for Y/N. In his mind, it was a perfectly logical plan.

Unfortunately, logic doesn’t always take into account feelings.

* * *

You walked towards the precinct, smiling politely and uttering your morning greetings to a few coworkers that you passed on your way. As you neared the building, you lightly jogged up the steps to get in a little quicker. It was a brisk morning, and at that point you were starving.

As you made your way towards the stairs to the second floor, you were stopped by Dr. Guerra. You groaned inwardly, thinking about your breakfast that was becoming cooler by the minute. Plastering on the best smile you could, you said a quick good morning and made to move around the imposing man. To your dismay, it looked like he wasn’t ready to let you go so soon.

“Good morning Y/N,” he smiled. You held back the urge to roll your eyes. While you didn’t mind other people calling you by your name, the way the doctor said it didn’t sit well with you.

“Dr. Guerra,” you nodded. “Is there something you needed from me?”

“Oh Y/N, even though we’re colleagues can’t we partake in small talk once in a while? I mean, you _are_ pretty… _chummy_ with Nygma, aren’t you?”

Your cheeks warmed at this, either out of indignation or embarrassment at being observed so closely, you weren’t sure. Composing yourself, you gave him another fake smile. “I’m sorry you felt left out Dr. Guerra. How about that weather this morning? Definitely starting to get colder.”

The man was so full of himself that your use of sarcasm went right over his head, thinking you had finally warmed up to him. “Yes, I heard it’s going to be one hell of a winter this year,” he nodded solemnly.

Not wanting to encourage further “small talk,” you just nodded your head as he went on about the weather. Out of the corner of your eye, you saw Edward coming down the stairs. You were about to wave to him, but he made a beeline towards the annex without a glance in your direction. You lowered you hand and cocked your head to the side.

Finally noticing your lack of attention, the doctor followed your gaze and landed on Ed’s retreating form. He rolled his eyes and scoffed. You snapped your head back to him with a frown on your face. An idea popped into Guerra’s mind.

“Nygma,” he scoffed again. “He always did have a thing for the record keeper. Guess he finally decided to make his move.”

“What do you mean?” you asked, suspicious.

“Oh, you didn’t know? Before you got here, he was trying to get on Kringle’s good side. Lost cause there, I can assure you,” he shrugged. “Who knows, maybe the idiot will bring out some charity in her. Breakfast is a good start.”

“…Breakfast?” then you realized that he had been carrying two plates of pancakes. You looked down at your sadly crinkled paper bags containing your food, and the breakfast sandwich you had gotten for Ed made exactly how he liked it. A wave of disappointment hit you hard.

You excused yourself abruptly and made to walk around the doctor.

“Oh Y/N?” he called. You slowed your pace and turned your head towards him in acknowledgement. “I wanted to ask you about specimen 204, was it–.”

You cut him off. “I’m sorry Dr. Guerra but I would prefer you talk to myself, or Mr. Nygma about professional matters during work hours. If my watch is correct, I still have 15 minutes to enjoy my own breakfast.” You continued your way to the stairs, and then paused and turned to face him fully. “And Edward is _not_ an idiot.” With that, you made your way to the labs.

* * *

Edward saw you enter the precinct that morning and then cursed. He wanted to get down to the annex before you arrived. As you walked through the bullpen, he felt a familiar presence behind him.

_“What are you doing Eddie? What’s so wrong with sticking to one gal?”_   he smirked.

“I am _hoping_ to stick to one gal,” he spat. “Miss Kringle.”

His other self scoffed _. “Come on, you really think you have a chance with her? Y/N is nice to you, she pays attention to you, she **likes** you. Why are you going to ruin that?”_

“I told you. Y/N is my friend. I won’t let you hurt her.”

“ _Oh, you won’t let me?”_ he quirked his brow.

“No. Now, leave. I’m going to see Miss Kringle.” Ed picked up the plates of pancakes he had picked up that morning on his way to work and walked carefully towards the stairs.

Then he saw you. More specifically, he saw you standing with Guerra of all people. And what was this? You were _blushing_? Blushing _and_ smiling? Ed froze in his steps, and then he felt the menacing aura over his shoulder. Turning his head to the side he glanced at his counterpart. His cool demeanor was shattered and he was visibly seething. They continued watching the exchange between the two of you.

_“Guerra is getting a little too comfortable with Y/N, don’t you think?”_

“N-n-no… It’s strictly professional. Besides… Y/N can talk to whoever she wants.”

“ _You idiot. Guerra’s got the hots for her and he’s going to be all over her if you don’t get your shit together and **get down there**.”_

Ed flinched at his harsh tone. He looked down at you both and saw how you nodded along to the doctor’s ramblings. He felt a small twinge in his chest but chose to ignore it. Maybe this was better. No matter how much of an egotistical idiot the other man was, he was still a doctor and could provide for you. That, and he didn’t have an unstable secondary personality that could hurt you. Yes. This was for the better.

Ignoring the voice in his head, he strode past you while attempting to avoid eye contact. In his haste, he missed the crestfallen look that passed over your face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm back again (for an unspecified amount of time)! This was a long time in the making, I just couldn't get it where I wanted it. Even posting this chapter now I'm not sure if it will disappoint considering how absolutely rusty I feel. 
> 
> This chapter is meant to give readers a little background with what's going on with Y/N and Ed, and my attempt at incorporating Ed's canon obsession with Kristen into my plot. I hope you guys enjoy it! I'm sorry for taking so long to update! Fingers crossed it doesn't take forever and a day for the next one xx

**Author's Note:**

> What do you think?


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